Surreal Beginnings
by aroseofmanyleaves
Summary: First few lines are spoilers for The Impossible Astronaut. River Song is still teasing The Doctor and when he is finally beginning to understand what she is saying, he takes it as a good sign to begin their relationship, in a very 'them' way.


He knew that now was probably not the greatest time to be thinking about his relationships, but he couldn't help it. He was trying to ignore it, but, by doing so, it kept presenting itself to the front of his brain.

One thing she had said had stuck very firmly in his mind. Sure, this situation was extremely hazardous and dangerous but people were keeping secrets from him, and if there was one thing he hated more than anything in the universe, more than Daleks, Cybermen, guns, even apples, was being lied to.

And now, they were in America. He had never been here before and so far he had been pushed to the ground by security guards and had his hat shot off in the middle of a dessert. Everyone was acting really weirdly and strangely, especially River.

First off, he had called her 'you bad, bad girl' which was just a bit of banter they had kept up continuously since he had first met her. Then, she had slapped him. That hurt – a lot. He didn't get why, but from her hard, expressionless face, he guessed he had done something very terrible and totally inexcusable. And the tears that had formed in her amazing and beautiful blue eyes had proved this to him. He had only seen her cry one other time, when she was dying, and he would never forgive himself for making her do it again.

But then, later on, after he had worked out something that was very clever, if he did say so himself, he had teased her saying she was wearing her 'He's hot when he's clever' face and she had laughed herself silly, feigned mock anger and hen told him to shut up.

However, the one thing that had confounded him the most was when she had said, _very_ playfully, 'Don't worry; I'm quite the screamer. That's a spoiler for you,' after he had told her to shout if she got into trouble, with which he would be enormously surprised if she didn't. When he had turned around to face Amy and Rory they were almost crying with laughter, but Canton looked particularly bemused.

The Doctor had looked extraordinarily confused and then a, quite frankly, disgusting thought had popped into his head. How human; always thinking of their…needs. But he did crack a very large and toothy grin, typical River Song. She was, undeniably, rather sexy and very attractive and they had a certain kind of flirtatious chemistry, but he had only paused once to think about her in that way. He quite liked to think about her in that way.

'She's just a…friend,' He had mumbled aloud, pretty sure he had not even convinced himself of the fact. Amy smirked loudly in sarcasm. He attempted to stutter some kind of witty comeback but it never came and so all he managed to come out with was, 'ugh, erm, well, that's not the point Pond. Moving on…'

But before he could continue rambling on about something that was sure to be wibbly wobbly and timey wimey, a mass of shining blonde curls appeared from out of the drainage system. She wiped her hands on her slimming navy jeans and pulled herself onto her feet.

'All clear,' she said brightly, a certain kind of light radiating from her perfectly featured face. She was speaking to The Doctor, but he looked like he had been hypnotised; he had his head tilted to the right in some kind of peaceful and serene way. She snapped her fingers in front of his blank face.

'River can I talk to you?' he asked suddenly, holding his hand out in her direction, raising his eyebrows and smiling irresistibly. She smiled excitably and entwined her fingers with his. The Doctor grinned and looked over at Amy and Rory,

'Rory can you go check the system, just in case, for a double check.' Rory opened his mouth to protest but The Doctor waved him away and walked off cautiously, hand in hand with his bad girl, Doctor River Song.

The Doctor pulled River into a small, slightly damp kind of closet – thing. It was totally pitch black apart from the tiny shafts of light shining in from the cracks in the door. River was looking slightly disconcerted.

'Doctor,' she began, almost nervously, 'What on Earth are we doing here? Why have you brought me,' she looked around disgustedly, 'here?'

He shuffled towards her, looking horribly embarrassed, gaining a red flush in his cheeks. Slowly, he placed a warm, comforting hand on her cheek and leant in and kissed her. She was completely shocked but began responding after a few seconds. It felt good, like a huge weight had been lifted off of both their shoulders.

'Doctor? Why are you, why are we doing this?' River Song asked breathlessly.

'Why did you slap me earlier? And by the way, do you have to slap me so hard next time?'

River's face fell, dejected, 'I can't tell you. I'm so, so sorry, but I can't.'

The Doctor looked utterly frustrated and put his hands on the back of his head, 'So, that's another secret you're keeping from me then, I guess.'

River stepped back in horror and shock, 'So that was to try, to try and _seduce_ me into telling you?'

The Doctor did not say anything but an expression of guilt became clear on his pale face. She recoiled in apparent disgust.

'How could you do this? Do you know how much these secrets have been killing me? I want to tell you more than anything else in the world but it will destroy you if you find out at the wrong time.' Tears were beginning to form in her crystal blue eyes.

'River, please. Nothing could hurt me as bad as this. Nothing.'

River Song looked at him in anger and raised her hand again to slap him and he recoiled and braced himself. But before she could strike him, River put down her hand and began to do the impossible – cry. The Doctor stared at her as she sat down on the dirty brown carpet and wept.

She sobbed loudly and unashamedly, bringing her knees up to chin and crossing her arms around her shins. The Doctor did really not know what to do. Sure, he had seen River and other women crying before, but never like this, he had never caused it.

He knelt down beside her and put his arm around her shoulder. She sobbed into his chest like a small child, afraid of the dark and the night time.

'Oh River, sweetie, I'm so, so sorry. I never stopped to think about how this affected you. I was being so selfish, I'm so sorry sweetie.' He said, exhaling deeply and hugging her gently.

She turned her head towards him, her eyes red and puffy, and her face turning red at their intimacy, their bodies only millimetres away from one another's. She stroked his cheek lovingly, put her hand on the back of his head and leant forward. The Doctor also moved his head inwards slightly, tilting his head to the left. Their lips met and they pressed hard against one another's. Gradually, they both stood up and he put both his hands on her powdered cheeks. He pushed her up against the wall and pressed his lips on her pale skin. They broke apart and he kissed her forehead and then her cheek and all the way up her jawbone and up to her temple. She threaded her slim fingers through his hair and kissed him back when his lips parted from her skin. She pulled him into another passionate kiss and they did not pause for air for several minutes. When they finally did, The Doctor brushed River's hair from her face and whispered in her ear the three words he could never bring himself to say, not to anyone, 'I love you.' He pronounced each syllable separately, saying it clearly so she knew that he meant it.

It was too early, far too early, in his time stream for this but she just could _not_ resist him.

They kissed again. It was so romantic, all their angst and stored up love burst through their lips and into each other's mouths.

But, all too soon, the door of their closet was burst open. Amy stared in shock at the two bodies totally entwined together, River Song's hands pressed against the wall with The Doctor's pressed against hers. Their lips were buried deep within one another's. Even when the door opened, they continued. Both of their jackets were strewn over the floor, The Doctor's bowtie lying discarded as well, and their lips were still continuously moving and pressing against one another's. Amy stood awkwardly watching this, knowing that they knew she was there, before she came to her senses and coughed loudly,

'Heh hem. Sorry to…interrupt, but we need your help because Rory still hasn't come back up.'

They broke apart and looked at Amy, not in the slightest bit embarrassed like any other person would have.

'Hang on Amy, we'll be out in a few minutes,' River whispered quickly, The Doctor looking pretty anxious to get back to _business_, before closing the door in Amy's startled face.


End file.
